Despite Odds, Holiday Brings Nhl Components Together

Labor Battle Still Leaves Bitter Taste For Both Sides

Worse wars than this have been suspended for the Christmas holidays but it's not often that the combatants break bread together and wish each other Merry Christmas.

But the Blackhawks held their annual Christmas party Thursday in the Stadium Club at the United Center and the players and their families, as always, were on the invitation list. While most of the players have left town since the beginning of the owners' lockout, most of those who remained attended Thursday's party.

Included were Chris Chelios, Steve Smith, Brent and Rich Sutter and Michel Goulet. Chelios, who not so long ago was the biggest heavy on either side of the fence after his intemperate remarks about NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, chatted amiably with team owner Bill Wirtz.

"We have our differences," Wirtz said later, "but what's that got to do with Christmas?"

But Wirtz was not in an altogether giving mood when the subject turned to the bitter labor battle that has delayed the start of the NHL season for 83 days and threatens to cancel it altogether.

"If there's no season it's all right with me," he said. "I'm the biggest hawk out there." Wirtz said that the stalled negotiations come down to a matter of trust. "We've been talking for 2 1/2 years," he said, "and you can't say that all 26 owners are crooks who keep two sets of books. This is not a complicated thing.

"Is there a problem or not? If there is a problem sit down and solve the problem. The players know there is a problem."

But he is frustrated that the players' union leader, Bob Goodenow, won't acknowledge the problem. "I don't know if this guy can save the season," he says of Goodenow. "I'm sadder for the players than I am for the owners. Look at a guy like Dirk Graham. It could be his last year."